Be the change

A lovely friend recently reminded me of a something I had forgotten. We were taking about how we wanted more out of our ‘communities'…a better sense of connecting with something larger than ourselves. He had done some truly inspiring things to develop the type of community that he wanted to be a part of. In his professional community he had set up a series of very successful networking groups. On a personal level he had gathered a groups of his bloke friends to play poker once a month…a late night of fine wine and food, wisecracks and tall stories which they all professed to greatly enjoy. After organising the poker get-together for a year he was feeling a bit resentful that no-one else in the group volunteered to host the gathering. So he left it a month to see what would happen…nothing did. He left it another month…still the same result. Six months later and it was still the same…and none of the regulars had even asked what had happened.

"Be the change you want to see in the World"

His story reminded me of the weekends away that I used to organise for a group of friends but which I had given away because no-one else ever reciprocated. We were both perplexed by the behaviour of our friends.

But then on reflection (and after some red wine) we were a bit perplexed by our own behaviour. We had had a picture of what we wanted, we had created it for ourselves, it was good and then we let it go.

The lesson I had forgotten was that we are each responsible for creating our own visions. If you want to see change, it's up to you to make it happen.

And on that note I'd like to invite you, and anyone who you think might be interested or better geographically placed, to the first meeting of the uRBAN Sustainability Exchange [more details below]. We're excited about it. If we don't see you on the 19 th , we'll tell you about next time.

Elaena

uRBAN Sustainability Exchange

Going green is not just a feel-good slogan. It can help businesses small and large to connect with their market, build reputation, cut costs and reduce risks.
If you're interested in sustainability...even if you're not doing much about it in your business yet...we'd like to invite you to be a part of the Urban Sustainability Exchange. The Urban Sustainability Exchange is a new idea. We hope it will become a network of people providing each other with the knowledge, support and connections they need to put sustainability into practice in their business. How that unfolds and how often we meet will be up to the members. But we think that there will be a collection of reference materials, speakers on different topics, excursions and opportunities to meet and swap ideas and information. Hopefully in the future there will be opportunities to collaborate on projects.		First meeting: Tuesday, 19 June, 1-2pm Suite 6, Level 6, 46-58 Holt Street, Surry Hills Let us know if you can come or if you'd like us to keep you informed about upcoming meetings and events.

A couple of events are coming up in Sydney we wanted to let you know about.

lostandfound is an exhibition of photographic works exploring some of the much guarded remnants of Sydney's industrial past. The exhibition is the culmination of three years work by Joy Lai, John Dennis and Darren Amesbury.

It will be on show at the Somedays Gallery, 72b Fiztroy Street , Surry Hills from June 14 – July 10.